Bringing People Together
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‘City of Roses’
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TLWeek ¡n
Thc Review
Political Preacher Dead
T he Rev. Jerry
Falw ell, the tele
vision e v a n g e
list w ho founded
the M oral M a
jority and used it
to m old the reli
gious right into a political force,
died T uesday shortly after being
found unconscious in his office at
Liberty University. He was 73. See
story, page A2.
Soldiers Missing
U.S. aircraft in Iraq dropped leaf
lets seeking information about three
U.S. soldiers feared captured by al-
Q aida, as tro o p s inten sified a
search Tuesday despite a w arning
front the terror group that the hunt
will endanger the captives' lives.
Few Minorities on TV Talk
The influential Sunday TV new s
talk show s are overw helm ingly
dom inated by w hite m en. with
w om en, blacks and Latinos having
little presence, a liberal m edia
w atchdog said M onday. Blacks
m ade up about 7 percent o f those
appearing on most o f the programs,
w hile Latinos m ade up about 1
percent, M edia M atters said. See
sto ry , p ag e A2.
Stamps Cost More
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See Metro
Metro section,
section, inside
inside
See
^ n rtía n h (©bsertœr
Established in 1970
T h e c o s t to
d eliverafirst-
class card or
le tte r
w as
raised to 41
cents for the
f ir s t o u n c e
M onday, a 2-
cent increase. The post office is
also introducing extra changes for
large or odd-shaped mail.
wvvw.portlandobserver.com
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Volume XXXVII. Number 19
g
Community is the focus fo r
Saturday's Art Hop featuring
local talent
and • unsung heroes
k m
,
,•
Wednesday • May 16. 2007
Leadership Role is Welcome Surprise
Young advocate
new Portland
NAACP president
by S arah B lount
T he P ortland O bserver
W hen C h a rle n e M cG ee w as e le c te d
p resid e n t o f th e P o rtlan d N A A C P , she
w a sn ’t w ell v erse d in th e o rg a n iz a tio n ’s
h isto ry , no r d id she k now w hy th e local
b ran c h w en t d e fu n c t fo r ab o u t a y ear.
B ut a lot has c h a n g e d sin c e th e 25-
y e a r-o ld s to p p e d by a P o rtla n d N a
tio n a l A s s o c ia tio n fo r th e A d v a n c e
m ent o f C o lo re d P erso n s m e etin g on
A pril 28 to see h o w she co u ld help and
left as its new lead er.
It tu r n s o u t m u c h o f th e c r o w d
knew M cG ee an d re c o g n iz e d h er a d v o
ca cy w ork w ith in th e co m m u n ity ; they
s u c c e ssfu lly n o m in a te d h er in a not-
so -sy m b o lic m o v e to b rin g so m e y o u th
ful en e rg y to th e re e m e rg in g b ran ch .
N ow , a s sh e faces a d elu g e o f d u tie s
w ith in o n e o f th e m o st re sp e c te d and
h isto ric al n atio n al a d v o c ac y g ro u p s for
c iv il rig h ts, M cG ee is n ’t a b o u t to be
w eig h e d d o w n by past n eg a tiv ity w ithin
the local o rg a n iz a tio n .
S h e’s focused and poised to elim inate
disparities that existed w hen the N A A C P
w as form ed w hile responding to racial
issues created by m odem society.
“ I d o n ’t k n o w a n y th in g th a t o c
c u rre d in the p ast - th is is d e fin ite ly a
clea n sla te ,” sh e said.
S h o rtly fo llo w in g h e r su rp rise n o m i
n atio n , M cG ee w as w h isk e d o ff to a
reg io n a l m e etin g in L as V egas, w h ere
she u n d e rw e n t in te n siv e tra in in g and
g o t a c ra sh c o u rse in th e h isto ry o f the
c e n tu r y -o ld g ro u p . T h e in fo rm a tio n -
photo by S arah
B loi nt /T iie P orti . and O bserver
Charlene McGee, 25, plans to build up membership in the Portland branch of the NAACP with grassroots advocacy.
p ac k ed w eek en d also a llo w e d M cG ee
to m eet m o re th an 3 0 0 if h er fellow
le a d e r s a c r o s s th e w e s te r n U n ite d
S tate s. It w as th e re sh e learn ed she is
the y o u n g e st N A A C P b ran ch p resid e n t
in th e reg io n an d p o ssib ly th e co u n try .
M cG ee, a native o f L iberia, lied the
civil w ar-torn African country and m oved
to O regon with her fam ily in 1993. She
graduated from O regon State U niversity
in 2004, m oved back to Portland a couple
years ago and now holds w hat she calls
her dream jo b , w orking as a coordinator
w ith in the M u ltnom ah C o u n ty H ealth
Department's African American Dispar
ity Project.
M c G e e ’s p ro fe ssio n a l resp o n sib ility
to ad d re ss racial h ealth d isp a ritie s fall
rig h t into p lace w ith h er new post at the
continued
on page A 6
Name Loses Popularity
K atrina dropped m ore than 100
slots last year on the baby-nam e
popularity list com piled by the
Social Security A dm inistration.
H ow ever, in Louisiana and M is
sissippi, the slates m ost affected
by the hurricane, the nam e's popu
larity increased 260 percent, ac
cording to the same data.
Road Rage Survey
For the second consecutive year,
rude M iam i drivers have earned
the city the title o f w orst road rage
in asu rv ey releasedT uesday. Port
land was ranked as the city with the
friendliest drivers.
Cruise Ship Trouble
T h e E m press o f the N orth, a
riverboat style cruise ship with
Portland ties, ran aground o ff the
A laska coast and took on water
early M onday. M ore than 200 pas
sengers w ere transferred to nearby
ships. T he crew was able to stabi
lize the ship and it m ade it to a
nearby port on its ow n power.
Performing Arts
Revitalizes Corner
Ethos showcases more talent
by R aymond R endleman
T he P ortland O bserver
“It was definitely rocking; it was
hot,” says organizer Travis H un
tington of last w eek's premiere show
at Ethos.
A renovated E thos M usic C en-
te r a n d C a f é o n the c o r n e ro f W il
lia m s A v e n u e a n d N o rth
K iilingsw orth Street now features
w eekly o p en -m ic rev u es in a new
re c ita l hall n am ed a fte r T om
B rum m , a com m u n ity and e c o
nom ic d ev elo p m en t o fficial.
From now on, the Ethos site will
be the epicenter for up-and-com ing
perform ers every Friday night be
ginning at 7:30. Last Friday’s show
only went until 11 p.m., but the
center will stay open as late as
necessary to accom m odate build
ing interest.
“O ur goal is to create the best
open-m ic night Portland has ever
seen," said Charles
Lewis, Ethos' founder and ex
ecutive director.
P erfo rm ers w ill be attracted by
the o p p o rtu n ity to hook up w ith
E th o s’ live feed to P ortland C o m
m unity M ed ia C h an n el 23. T he
F rid ay night b ro ad c asts are a d i
rect link to o v er 3 0 0 ,0 0 0 h o u se
h o ld s th ree tim es a w eek through
reru n s T u esd a y s at 9 a.m . on
C hannel 1 1 and Friday afternoons
at 4 p.m . on C h an n el 22.
Created in 1998 in direct response
to school budget cuts, Ethos is also
show ing o ff its success in organiz
ing private lessons, group classes,
perform ance and ensem ble oppor
tunities to thousands o f students
each year.
From 3-6 pm this Saturday, the
center will host an open house o f
fering a preview o f various pro
grams.
continued
on page A3
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P orti . and O bserver
Travis Huntington (left) and Charles Lewis welcome the community to the renovated Ethos Music
Center and Café on the corner o f Williams Avenue and North Kiilingsworth Street.
Momentum Builds for Vanport Square Development
Magic Johnson
24-Hour Fitness
wins approval
by L ee P erlman
T he P ortland O bserver
Vanport Square, the m inority-
ow ned com m ercial and retail devel
o p m en t u n d er co n stru c tio n on
Northeast M artin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard, got a major boost last
week when the Portland D evelop
ment Commissiort gave up 1.7 acres
A Magic Johnson 24-Hour Fitness will be built at Northeast Alberta and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, replacing the existing
Living Color Beauty Supply store and a vacant warehouse. Living Color plans to move into another the first phase o f Vanport Square,
now under construction a couple of blocks north.
o f land for a Magic Johnson 24-
Hour Fitness center.
The site facing MLK and Alberta
Street will replace an old store and
a v;tt ant warehouse for a new 35,000
square foot fitness facility. 218-
space parking garage and a coffee
shop. T h e d ev e lo p e rs arc Ray
Leary, a Itxal African A merican
continued
on page Af>